Category Archives: @Coronavirus, @COVID-19

Social Security Age: Claim at 62 or Wait until 70

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“The age you claim Social Security affects your lifetime income.”

Social Security Administration (SSA) payments are based on a calculation of a 35-year average of your lifetime earnings. Each year’s wages are adjusted for inflation before being averaged. If you worked longer than 35 years, the highest 35 years will be used. If you worked fewer than 35 years, SSA will average in zeros for the missing years.

When to collect benefits

According to the Center for Retirement Research at Boston College, 48% of women and 42% of men who claimed Social Security retirement benefits in 2013 did so as soon as they were eligible at age 62.

Yet, according to many financial advisers, baby boomers would be better off waiting until their seventieth (70th) birthday to start claiming Social Security, than if they take benefits in their 60s.

The logic behind this advice is driven by the 8% government-guaranteed increase in lifetime payments for each year baby boomers delay benefits past age 62, up to age 70.

But, baby boomers need to ask themselves what is the likelihood they will live long enough to benefit from the increased payments that start later in life at seventy years old versus collecting benefits at sixty-two years old.

When you decide to delay starting Social Security benefits, you’re betting that you will out-live an actuarially based mortality estimate.

Discount Rate Specification and the Social Security Claiming Decision from the Social Security Administration (SSA) study evaluates Social Security benefits not only as a function of the age of death, but also the probability of reaching that age. It provides that analysis over a range of discount rates.

A general conclusion of the study is that you shouldn’t wait to reach the age of 70 to initiate your Social Security benefits.

Social Security Benefit Breakeven

Before you start drawing on Social Security at age 62, it is recommended that you determine if it maximizes your total payments by calculating the breakeven. Additionally, it’s important that you balance the timing of those benefits with the rest of your retirement income plans. This choice of starting benefits isn’t reversible after 12 months.

Social Security breakeven age occurs when the total value of higher benefits (from postponing retirement) starts to exceed the total value of lower benefits (from choosing early retirement).

  • Example: If you are eligible to collect a reduced $900 benefit at age 62 plus 1 month, and your benefit would increase to $1,251 at age 65 and 10 months, your estimated break-even age is 75 years and 5 months.

https://youtu.be/9e3M3kM9LFk

Early Benefits

Collecting early benefits may pay off despite the reduced monthly check. Since it is impossible to predict how long a baby boomer will live. If you’re facing a potentially significant reduction in life expectancy and are short of income, taking Social Security early may be appropriate.

Just be aware that you will receive a reduced benefit. If your full retirement age is 67 and you begin collecting Social Security at age 62, for example, your benefits are reduced by about 30 percent.

The rational advisors often hear from baby boomers who want to apply for Social Security early benefits at age 62 is that you’ve paid into the system for decades, and want to get something out of it before it goes bankrupt. It might feel like the best decision at the time, but down the road, it may prove the worst decision you ever made in your life.

The legitimate fear for planning purposes is not that you might die early and miss out on some money you could have had from social security, but rather that you will outlive your money.   Think about waiting to collect Social Security as a form of longevity insurance—for you for sure, but also for your surviving spouse if you are the higher earner.  In fact, a higher Social Security benefit is the best deal on longevity insurance you can get.

Benefits reduced if you’re work while receiving benefits

Working after you start receiving retirement benefits may affect your monthly benefit amount, depending on your age and how much you earn. If you are younger than your full retirement age, and your earnings exceed certain dollar amounts, some of your monthly benefit may be withheld.

Social Security will increase your monthly benefit after you reach full retirement age to account for the months of withheld benefits. When you reach your full retirement age, you can work and earn as much as you want and your benefit will not be affected.

Full Retirement Age

Optimum strategy for most baby boomers may or may not be to postpone Social Security benefits at least until you reach full retirement age, which is determined by the Social Security Administration.

Your full retirement age (FRA) is determined by the year you were born. The retirement age used to be 65 for everyone, but is gradually increasing to 67. As the full retirement age goes up, benefits claimed at earlier ages go down.

FRA is 67 for those born in 1960 or later. If you were born in 1937 or earlier, your full retirement age is 65. The FRA rises two months every year after that until it caps out at age 67.

However, collecting Social Security early will cost you. If your full retirement age is 67, your Social Security benefit is reduced by:

  • About 30 percent if you start collecting at 62.
  • About 25 percent if you start collecting at 63.
  • About 20 percent if you start collecting at 64.
  • About 13.3 percent if you start collecting at 65.
  • About 6.7 percent if you start collecting at 66.

If you expect to live beyond the breakeven age, it would be financially worth your while to delay drawing benefits. Yet, there’s not an age that’s appropriate for everyone. Baby boomers must consider their own financial need, health and post-retirement plans before deciding when to begin social security benefits.

There are many ways to collect Social Security benefits. You can collect benefits starting at age 62 or anytime up until you’re 70. Collecting early benefits at age 62 means smaller monthly payouts than waiting until full retirement age or waiting until seventy (70). It’s generally advisable to wait until full retirement age to start collecting Social Security benefits because the monthly benefit is higher than starting early benefits at age 62.

References:

  1. https://crr.bc.edu
  2. https://www.thestreet.com/retirement/social-security-claim-now-or-wait
  3. https://www.bankrate.com/retirement/when-to-take-social-security/
  4. https://www.forbes.com/sites/jlange/2018/10/01/what-is-the-best-age-to-apply-for-social-security/#97e7e9a56d2b
  5. https://www.ssa.gov/benefits/retirement/

Coronavirus Relief Often Pays Workers More Than Work | Wall Street Journal

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When combined with state benefits, weekly government payouts create incentives that employers say complicate efforts to reopen businesses

Roughly half of all U.S. workers stand to earn more in unemployment benefits than they did at their jobs before the coronavirus pandemic shut down wide swaths of the U.S. economy, and employers say the government relief is complicating plans to reopen businesses.

The package of coronavirus stimulus laws Congress passed and President Trump signed in March included a $600 boost to weekly unemployment benefits through July 31. As that support is added to state benefits over the coming weeks, the average weekly payment to a laid-off worker should rise to about $978 from the $377.97 the Labor Department said was paid on average late last year.

Qualified workers will receive the government payout every week through July, and in most cases, the combined $978 weekly payout amounts to better pay than what many workers received before the crisis hit. Labor Department statistics show half of full-time workers earned $957 or less a week in the first quarter of 2020.

Read more: https://www.wsj.com/articles/coronavirus-relief-often-pays-workers-more-than-work-11588066200

Additional information:

  1. https://www.usa.gov/unemployment#item-214601
  2. https://www.wsj.com/articles/the-secret-group-of-scientists-and-billionaires-pushing-trump-on-a-covid-19-plan-11587998993?mod=trending_now_1

Dr. David Katz | Real Time with Bill Maher (HBO)

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Dr. Katz believes the fight against coronavirus is worse than the disease

Preventive medicine and public health specialist Dr. David Katz joins Bill Maher to discuss whether the fight against coronavirus is worse than the disease.

Dr. Katz wrote a New York Times op-ed on March 20 titled “Is Our Fight Against Coronavirus Worse Than the Disease?”

In the op-ed, Katz argues against the self-isolation policies put in place by most of the U.S. He advises that instead locking down the country; we should isolate the elderly and most at risk, which would thus “allow most of society to return to life as usual and perhaps prevent vast segments of the economy from collapsing”.

Finger Pulse Oximeters by Patients with COVID-19

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In a recent New York Times opinion piece, New York City’s Richard Levitan, MD, after working at Manhattan’s Bellevue Hospital Center in early April at the height of the COVID-19 surge, stated that everyone needs a pulse oximeter in their pandemic supply kit.

Levitan says that use of home finger pulse oximeters by patients with COVID-19 could preempt the precipitous oxygen desaturation that leads to a crisis that needs intensive care.

In a NY Times’ Opinion piece, Dr. Levitan said, “If we could detect it earlier, we could initiate treatment earlier. We need to change messaging to the public, to physicians, to get earlier recognition of the disease.”

There is a way the medical community could identify more patients who have Covid pneumonia sooner and treat them more effectively by detecting silent hypoxia early through a common medical device called a pulse oximeter.

Pulse oximetry is no more complicated than using a thermometer. These small devices turn on with one button and are placed on a fingertip. In a few seconds, two numbers are displayed: oxygen saturation and pulse rate. Pulse oximeters are extremely reliable in detecting oxygenation problems and elevated heart rates.

Pulse oximeters can help save the lives by alerting individuals early to the need for treatment. When people notice their oxygen levels declining, they can go to the hospital earlier and have a higher chance to recover. Detection of hypoxia, early treatment and close monitoring apparently also worked for Boris Johnson, the British Prime Minister.

Widespread pulse oximetry screening for Covid pneumonia — whether people check themselves on home devices or go to clinics or doctors’ offices — could provide an early warning system for the kinds of breathing problems associated with Covid pneumonia.

References:

  1. https://www.webmd.com/lung/news/20200424/covid-19-home-pulse-oximetry-could-be-game-changer-says-er-doc?src=RSS_PUBLIC#1
  2. https://www.nytimes.com/2020/04/20/opinion/coronavirus-testing-pneumonia.html?referringSource=articleShare

Nearly All NYC COVID-19 Patients Hospitalized had Chronic Health Issues

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Study finds Nearly All Patients Hospitalized With Covid-19 Had Chronic Health Issues

A new Journal of American Medical Assoication study of thousands of hospitalized coronavirus patients in the New York City area has found that nearly all of them had at least one major chronic health condition, and most — 88 percent — had at least two.

Though earlier research has shown chronic conditions like obesity, high blood pressure and diabetes are common risk factors for severe Covid-19, the ubiquity of serious medical conditions in these patients was striking: Only 6 percent of them had no underlying health conditions.

The researchers reported that when patients first came to the hospital and were triaged, 17 percent had an abnormal respiratory rate of more than 24 breaths per minute, and 28 percent received supplemental oxygen.

But fewer than one third of the patients had a fever, even though they were sick enough to be hospitalized, a similar observation to one noted by a large Chinese study.

This indicates that taking people’s temperatures in order to screen them for the coronavirus is likely to miss many people who are not only asymptomatic but also acutely ill.

Nearly 60 percent of those hospitalized at the Northwell facilities had high blood pressure, 40 percent were obese, and about one-third had diabetes. Smaller numbers of patients suffered from other chronic illnesses, such as heart disease, kidney disease and chronic respiratory illnesses.

The study included 5,700 patients hospitalized with COVID-19 in the New York City area, the most common comorbidities [simultaneous presence of two chronic diseases or conditions in a patient] were hypertension, obesity, and diabetes. Among patients who were discharged or died (sample size (n) = 2,634 patients), 14.2% were treated in the intensive care unit, 12.2% received invasive mechanical ventilation, 3.2% were treated with kidney replacement therapy, and 21% died.

References:

  1. https://www.nytimes.com/2020/04/23/health/coronavirus-patients-risk.html?referringSource=articleShare
  2. https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jama/fullarticle/2765184

Auto Insurance Companies are giving Refunds due to Coronavirus

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Some auto insurance companies start giving refunds and credits to commuters stuck at home during the coronavirus outbreak.

Atlanta traffic

USAA, the country’s fifth largest property-casualty insurer, will return $520 million to its members. This payment is a result of data showing members are driving less due to stay-at-home and shelter-in-place guidance across the country.

Car traffic has plummeted as states impose “shelter in place” orders and scores of companies have told employees to work from home. Personal travel has been declining for three straight weeks, according to Inrix, a traffic data analytics company. From late March to early April, personal travel traffic in the U.S. dropped 47% compared to traffic in late February, the data showed.

Consumers are driving much less. That makes the driver less risky to insure and justifies a lower premium.

The nation’s biggest car insurer, State Farm, is slashing $2 billion of premiums owed on 40 million vehicles, making it the latest carrier to offer a financial-relief program for consumers as auto claims have plunged under shelter-at-home restrictions.

References:

  1. https://www.marketwatch.com/story/some-auto-insurers-are-giving-refunds-because-of-the-coronavirus-outbeak-heres-how-you-can-get-a-break-too-2020-04-09?mod=mw_more_headlines
  2. https://communities.usaa.com/t5/Press-Releases/USAA-to-Return-520-Million-to-Members/ba-p/228150?_ga=2.74504658.1537537724.1587742333-1534249610.1587742333
  3. https://www.marketwatch.com/story/state-farm-to-slash-2-billion-in-car-insurance-premiums-amid-pandemic-2020-04-09?mod=article_inline

The first modern pandemic | by Bill Gates

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https://www.gatesnotes.com/

The scientific advances we need to stop COVID-19.

By Bill Gates | April 23, 2020

The coronavirus pandemic pits all of humanity against the virus. The damage to health, wealth, and well-being has already been enormous. This is like a world war, except in this case, we’re all on the same side. Everyone can work together to learn about the disease and develop tools to fight it. I see global innovation as the key to limiting the damage. This includes innovations in testing, treatments, vaccines, and policies to limit the spread while minimizing the damage to economies and well-being.

This memo shares my view of the situation and how we can accelerate these innovations. The situation changes every day, there is a lot of information available—much of it contradictory—and it can be hard to make sense of all the proposals and ideas you may hear about. It can also sound like we have all the scientific advances needed to re-open the economy, but in fact we do not. Although some of what’s below gets fairly technical, I hope it helps people make sense of what is happening, understand the innovations we still need, and make informed decisions about dealing with the pandemic.

Read more: https://www.gatesnotes.com/Health/Pandemic-Innovation?WT.mc_id=20200423060000_Pandemic-Innovation_BG-EM_&WT.tsrc=BGEM

The 6 Feet Office | Cushman & Wakefield

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Helping Adjust to a New COVID-19 Normal

Cushman & Wakefield has begun visualizing life after the COVID-19 lockdowns and ‘stay at home’ orders come to an end. From their prospective, it is important for employers to think about the new normal and how they plan to adjust once people return to the workplace.

“The 6 feet rule” isn’t going away any time soon and it is critical to normalize this guideline into everyday life. Eventually, Americans will return to the workplace, but they must not forget the ‘six foot’ physical distancing rule.

The core premise is to ensure that six feet, the recommended measurement for safe social distancing, stays between people at all times. This behavior is encouraged through properly spaced desks, but also visual signals, such as a circle embedded in the carpeting around each desk to ensure people don’t get too close.

Cushman & Wakefield Introduces the 6 Feet Office. 

The 6 Feet Office is Cushman & Wakefield’s conceptual idea to help their clients prepare for their employees to return to the office. 

Cushman & Wakefield: 6 FEET OFFICE CONCEPT CONSISTS OF SIX ELEMENTS:

  1. 6 Feet Quick Scan: A concise but thorough analysis of the current working environment in the field of virus safety and any other opportunities for improvement.
  2. 6 Feet Rules: A set of simple and clear workable agreements and rules of conduct that put the safety of everyone first.
  3. 6 Feet Routing: A visually displayed and unique routing for each office, making traffic flows completely safe.
  4. 6 Feet Workstation: An adapted and fully equipped workplace at which the user can work safely.
  5. 6 Feet Facility: A trained employee who advises on and operationally ensures an optimally functioning and safe facility environment.
  6. 6 Feet Certificate: A certificate stating that measures have been taken to implement a virus-safe working environment.

References:

  1. https://www.cushmanwakefield.com/en/netherlands/six-feet-office
  2. https://www.fastcompany.com/90488060/our-offices-will-never-be-the-same-after-covid-19-heres-what-they-could-look-like

U.S. Senate passes $500 bln coronavirus aid package

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The U.S. Senate on Tuesday unanimously approved $484 billion in fresh relief for the U.S. economy and hospitals hammered by the coronavirus pandemic, sending the measure to the House of Representatives for final passage later this week.

The bipartisan bill would replenish funds for emergency small business lending programs and shore up national coronavirus testing as a stopgap ahead of another round of major relief legislation.

  • The bill includes an additional $310 billion for the Paycheck Protection Program, with $60 billion of that money reserved for smaller businesses without existing banking relationships.
  • Another $60 billion ($50 billion in loans and $10 billion in grants) is also set aside for the Economic Injury Disaster Loan fund, which is administered directly by the Small Business Administration rather than banks. Farms and other agricultural programs are now eligible for those funds.
  • The bill will also provide another $75 billion for cash-strapped hospitals and healthcare providers to help them cover the massive costs associated with responding to the virus. 
  • The bill allocates $25 billion for coronavirus testing—a major sticking point for both Democrats and Republicans during late-night negotiations on Monday. $11 billion of that money is earmarked for states and local governments to expand their testing capacity.
  • Under the terms of the legislation, the federal government is required to develop a “strategic plan related to providing assistance to states for testing and increasing testing capacity.” State and local governments must also submit their testing plans for review.
  1. https://www.forbes.com/sites/sarahhansen/2020/04/21/senate-passes-484-billion-interim-relief-package-heres-whats-in-it-and-whats-missing/#5f1656cc3e34

Southern States, Like Georgia, Push to Reopen With Economic Pressure Rising | Bloomberg

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  • Georgia, South Carolina moves come days after Trump guidelines
  • Questions remain about whether those states meet benchmarks

Southern Republican governors who were among the last to institute shelter-at-home orders are now pushing to become the first to lift them. In Georgia, for example, the state will begin opening up this week with:

  • Gyms, fitness centers, bowling alleys, body art studios, barbers, cosmetologists, hair designers, nail care artists, estheticians, their respective schools and massage therapists can reopen Friday, April 24, Kemp said, provided workers wear masks and gloves, stay six feet away from each other and are screened for symptoms.
  • Dine-in options at restaurants, private social clubs and theaters will be able to reopen on April 27 “subject to specific social distancing and sanitation mandates,” which will be released in the coming days, Kemp said.
  • Bars, nightclubs, amusement parks and live performance venues will remain closed.

“In the same way that we carefully closed businesses and urged operations to end to mitigate the virus’ spread, today, we are announcing plans to incrementally – and safely – reopen sectors of our economy,” Governor Kemp said on Monday.

The announcements came Monday afternoon after Georgia Governor Brian Kemp spent the weekend talking to his fellow Republican governors in the South about how best to restart their economies in response to guidelines issued last week by the White House.

Coming just four days after President Donald Trump issued the guidelines, the announcements raised questions about whether the states were moving too quickly.

Dr. Deborah Birx, the U.S. State Department immunologist and one of Trump’s top medical advisers, said Monday evening that it was up to governors to determine whether they are meeting the criteria set by the White House last Thursday.

Recommendations, not Requirements

Public-health experts say all of these conditions should be met before a state considers reopening.

With the virus still spreading across the country, states would be hard-pressed to meet all of these criteria. But because they are only recommendations, not requirements, states can proceed with reopening their economies.

In Georgia, the public health department reports a peak of 811 confirmed cases on April 6. Cases show a downward trajectory since then, though April 14 came close to the peak with 779 confirmed cases. A decrease of 32 cases is still a decrease, but not one which would necessarily leave public-health experts feeling confident in a state’s ability to reopen.

In any case, the guidelines are merely suggestions. If the states decline to follow them, they won’t be held liable by the federal government.

The swift reopening in Georgia is premature, said Harry Heiman, an associate professor at Georgia State University’s School of Public Health.

“On the one hand,” Heiman said, Kemp and his team “seem to understand the elements that need to be in place. On the other hand, those elements don’t seem to be in place.”

Read more: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-04-21/southern-states-push-to-reopen-with-economic-pressure-rising

  • Sources:
    1. https://gov.georgia.gov/press-releases/2020-04-20/gov-kemp-updates-georgians-covid-19
    2. https://dph.georgia.gov/covid-19-daily-status-report
    3. https://www.forbes.com/sites/rachelsandler/2020/04/20/georgia-will-reopen-gyms-hair-salons-and-bowling-alleys-as-early-as-friday/#1699cbdb2ce7